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I don’t mind seaming things up. I think there are tons of knitted items that benefit from the structural integrity of seams, and some things just aren’t possible to knit without doing some sewing. The Sunrise Circle Jacket is like that, on both counts. The yarn is firm and a little heavy and the seams will keep it from drooping at the sides, although it’s not like you could really opt out of them considering the construction. By necessity, there are two raglan seams to sew up, two sleeve seams and two side seams. Then (unless you are the sort who knit up all your hems – which I am not) then you have to sew down the hems at the cuffs and around the entire perimeter of the sweater.

This sweater has a lot of sewing… and baby that’s saying something because I knit sweaters in that time of fashion emptiness, the eighties. Give just a moments thought to dolman sleeves and oversize sweaters that came down to your knees (over your stirrup pants) and try to recall some of the long, gathered shapes of those enormous sweater coats Kaffe Fassett thought were a good idea back then and I’m telling you, there has to be a lot of sewing before I’m going to think it’s a lot of sewing. Last night I finished the twelve puny rows standing between me and being finished, and then I started the finishing.

I sewed the sleeve and side seams first so that I could try it on. This took a good long time. A whole glass of Shiraz sort of a long time. Babies have been born in the length of time that it took to sew these seams. Treaties have been settled between warring nations in less time. Hell…Politicians have made up their minds in less time than I spent sewing. The sun set. The moon rose. Time passed indeterminably while I plied my needle up those seams. I finished those seams and that glass of wine about the same time, and it was a good thing too, because I discovered that I remain absolutely freakin’ whacked a little bit off base about the real length of my arms and that due to my continuing belief that I am much, much taller than I am, the sleeves were two inches too long, and if I’d have figured that out before I had the glass of wine I would have needed one anyway. (Let this be a lesson to you. Drink early, drink often. Just for the efficiency of it.)

I took a deep breath, I unpicked my seams, chopped off the excess, picked up the stitches and knit new hems back down. Then I resewed the seams. Then I sewed the cuff hems. Then I tried it on to make sure that I was having a reality based knitting experience (I was.) and decided to forgo the second glass of wine. (One glass fortifies. The second can really begin to effect sewing accuracy.) Then I put on all the taped episodes of The Bionic Woman and started the hems.

( A word about the new Bionic Woman? There is no bigger fan of the original Bionic Woman out there than me. I loved that show. Loved. It. I used to play Bionic Woman all the time and if I hadn’t had a brother named Jamie I would have demanded a name change. I equally loved The Six Million Dollar man, though that was just a respect thing. I didn’t think he was hot. That said, and accepting that whoever this new chick is might be doomed in my heart anyway…since I don’t see how anyone could really be Jaime Summers except Lindsay Wagner…that’s bloody clear… I’m having trouble getting into the new series. I mean, have you seen it? We could talk about the plot and the characters and stuff but I’d rather gloss that over and go right to the big issues. Have you seen how they show her going really fast? They make her go REALLY FAST. That’s dumbass. Totally dumbass. I mean, everybody knows that you can tell the bionics are working and they are going really, really fast when they go REALLY REALLY SLOW. This new fast bionic woman just looks like a hamster. I mean seriously. It’s an insult to Bionics. I have to avert my eyes it pains me so. )

Dudes. This is a fair bit of sewing. Quilts have less sewing…No, that’s an understatement.

…CHER has fewer seams on her than this sweater. It is a fantastical amount of fiddly sewing. It goes on and on and on until you beg for mercy. Beg. It went on for so long that when I was finally finished (at 2AM and after a second glass of wine after all because holy cow I practically had to bribe myself to stick to it ) when I finally fell into my bed the sewing had so invaded my brain that there were immediate consequences.

I had a dream that I got a message to go to a coffee shop and sew up a sweater. (I have no idea why I would go to some odd shop to sew up the seams of a strangers sweater, but you know how dreams are. These aren’t things that seem like choices. ) In the dream, when I got to the coffee shop there was this big chesterfield there, and the shop owner was some evil sweater- knitting blogger and she chained me up with these crazy iron i-cords and told me that I had to sew up all of her stuff before I could go. ( As scary as that was, she also gave me coffee…so it wasn’t all bad.)

It was a really traumatic dream, except for that the evil sweater-knitting-blogger type had really good taste, so the sweaters I had to sew up were fantastic… That and she forgot to take away my cell phone, so I could call for help, and somehow, out of all of the people in the world I could call to rescue me, I picked up the phone and called my good buddy Rick Mercer (whom I have never met, in my waking life ) to come to my aid. Rick did come and unchain me, but not before we had brownies and he told me I was stunned as an arse for getting myself locked up to sew sweaters in the first place. Then we blogged it and we left… In a red pick-up. (I have no idea why my inner psyche thinks Rick Mercer drives a red-pickup. Some residual scarring from the Liberal convention perhaps. No way to know. ) Anyway, Rick was really great about it, but he didn’t knit in the dream.

Oh, was it worth it! It looks terrific.
But I am breathless at your casual comment, “… I took a deep breath, I unpicked my seams, chopped off the excess, picked up the stitches and knit new hems back down.” Yikes. Particularly the “chopped off the excess” part. Quite a feat, even if wine-inspired.
Congrats on the persistence and fortitude. (And yes, you do look sleepy in these photos.)

Wow! Perfect fit. Totally worth the re-do. (Easy for me to say, huh?) Every time I see that yarn I like it more. It’s those little flecks of color. Tweed with an attitude. Beautiful work Stephanie.
Now, I have a sweater that needs sewing up. If I put on a fresh pot of Peet’s and knit up some iron i-cord, will you . . . oh, nevermind.

usually i just lurk, but am popping out for a sec to say your jacket looks good enough to tempt me to make one. and i’m not at all a brown or tweedy or funky-shaped jackets person. and that pin looks fits it somehow – who needs buttons?

Lovely sweater. Absolutely lovely. And better to have the arms too long than too short I say…
You’ve given me the resolve to sew up my son’s sweater tomorrow. Surely a four year old’s sweater can’t have that much seaming as to give me odd dreams. PLUS that will be one Christmas gift crossed off my list.

I missed the whole decade that was the “fashion emptiness of the eighties”: either pregnant or nursing. That was one of the greatest blessing ever bestowed upon me by our girls and may have kept them safe a time or two when they were, you know, acting stunned as an arse.
PS Your arse, BTW, meets the Sunrise at just the right place.

So the other day when you said you had remeasured yourself and the sweater and it was going to fit you just didn’t measure your arms. or was the tape measure wrong (they lie just as often as swatches).

Wow ! now I want one. Right after I finish my son’s socks (three ply handspun-see, I feel your pain) and the tea cosy and the christening gown for my daughter (size newborn. She’s taller than I am now and doesn’t even live at home anymore. Wanna make something of it?)… Other than that I’m all caught up. Uh- It IS 1987, right?

What is it about the beginning versus the end of a project?? In the beginning, all is golden. Finishing the last of it, though, is like a forced march in unpleasant weather. The wool should be grateful that you didn’t gift it to the local squirrel population for the holidays.
The sweater (oh, man, that has seams everywhere!) looks beautiful.

Love the sweater! Totallty agree with you on the new Bionic woman. I want to like it so much but I can’t get into it. The worst thing is it’s made locally and instead of watching the show, I am trying to figure out what locaton they filmed it at!

You have given me hope. Right now I’m about 30 rows away from finishing my 2nd sleeve on my first sweater and then I have to sew up my seams. I’m not thrilled, and a bit nervous, because in order to make it look as nice as all the other crocheting I did in it, I will need to do mattress stitch and I’ve never done that. But we’ll see.
And I’m so totally opening a bottle of wine to do it with. 🙂

More seams than Cher!! hysterical
btw – I have two sweaters that need seaming (and I have both coffee and wine). Oh, they’re both Fair Isle – (one with 10 colors!) so all the ends needs weaving in, too.
It’s a wonder I haven’t finished them yet!
Love the sweater!

IT FITS! Dude. I am whelmed. Not only that, but looks fantastic on you, too. Have some more Shiraz in celebration!
And I’m so with you on the arm thing. I have short arms. You *know* you have short arms when someone shorter than you can reach a shelf about 2″ out of your reach. And then, in their astonishment, they insist on comparing arm length, so they can mumble in surprise while you wonder why these things happen to you, and is there a camera hidden somewhere?
So really, height has nothing to do with it. We just have to accept the fact that we’re short-armed oddities of evolution, and remember to deal. Right? (Now let’s see if I can remember that whenever I make it to the knitting part of my Blueberry Chai. It may be a while; I have to design it yet.)

That really did turn out lovely. I won’t be making one though, knowing about all the sewing up. I hate, hate sewing up finished objects. I think all that sewing would have made me throw myself into the pit of despair.

I’ve got some quilting to do this week…so now that you are warmed up with hand sewing, I could use the help.:)
I could see why Rick Mercer would invade your dream. He once did a short Bollywood type movie on his show so a type of Indianna Jones rescue scene is probably just the sort of thing he would do.

Sewing up gives me the shivers as I see something taking shape; however, my hand goes NUMB with the stitching. Sweater is stunning – colors, texture and fit. I agree w/previous comment: arse does look perfect at the hem line. Yeah you.

I have been in love with this sweater since the pattern came out but I have decided that it only looks good on people that have hot compact bodies like you. Seriously, it looks good.
Speaking of weird dreams, when you were having the furnace war with your brother I decided to try to tough it out myself (ha, ha I freeze when my apartment is 14 degrees Celsius. I am Puerto Rican, what can I say?) Anyway, one night I dreamed that I was soooooooo cold. Then I found myself in bed with Rudy Giulianni, both naked and trying to warm each other. AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!! I decided that nothing was worth having that kind of nightmare.

That really does look fabulous, Steph! And why does it need buttons? The pin looks so good with it. What new insanity are you going to attempt, now that it’s done? After IT is behind you, I mean. 🙂 I’m dealing with that already. There’s this sweater, that I’m totally redesigning so I can knit it in the round, at a different gauge than the pattern, for my MIL, that I haven’t started yet…AHEM. The really bad thing is, she bought the yarn and asked me to knit it for her, so it’s not like if I don’t finish it I can just deny any knowledge. Well, anyway, your sweater really turned out perfectly. Congratulations.

Speaking of dreams, I was dreaming about YOU the other night. Background: I’m reading your books before falling asleep at night; I used to go to the local Quaker Meeting; I think I’m shy but it turns out i really like to speak in front of groups. Anyway, there I was, in my dream, showing up at a First Day meeting quite unexpectedly and one of my friends asked me to speak. Why? Who knows! I started talking about knitting, the Yarn Harlot, and something about knitting tieing generation upon generation…it was a paraphrase of something in your book.
And before I forget, great sweater!

Beautiful, beautiful sweater. I have just finished knitting 28 tiny sweaters as Christmas tree ornaments for my family and now I am wishing I had made a miniature Sunrise Circle Jacket. (I didn’t, of course, as all of these sweaters rudimentary little basic sweaters but hey – dreaming on a very small scale.)

It’s gorgeous! I’ve been debating on whether I want one or not. Ok, I really want one but I’m not sure how it will look on my short, not-so-skinny frame. I love how it fits like a regular old sweater in the back. I think I just might have to order me up some yarn. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Oh, I am so with you on the Bionic woman thing. She is NO Lindsay Wagner. I had to stop watching, the disappointment was so huge. But I’m sure there is no disappointment in that sweater – wow! Worth all the sewing!

Ah, the Eighties. My late high school / early university days. Big hair, big sweaters, bad taste and stirrup pants. (with socks or legwarmers worn OVER them…) I never want to see that again. Ever. ‘Scuse me while I go burn my yearbooks…
Dude, kickass sweater. Fits just right. Well worth the Merlot.

Great sweater. Sorry about the seaming and the dream. My goodness!
But honey, you need a nap. I am noticing some circles under your eyes.
The things we do for sweaters. And you weren’t even on any kind of deadline.

So many comments…
1. When I was a child I believed that my grandfather, my dad’s cousin and my great uncle were Bionic men. All three of them had prosthetic limbs (leg, leg and arm) for various reasons. I told all of my friends that my Grandfather was bionic and they believed me.
2. I like to think that I am responsible for Rick Mercer reviving the “rant”. When he was in town for the CBC train thingy a few years ago I told him that I had always plotted to overthrow him when he was on 22mins as I wanted to do the Streeters myself and that it sucked that he wasn’t on the show b/c Canada needed him.
If you ever meet Rick Mercer in person you’ll be pleased to note that you’re about the same height. Good things come in small packages.
3. Despite the seaming – that sweater kicks some serious arse. It’s the perfect Harlot colour – 1970s appliance / earthy tone. 🙂
4. I’ll be in your ‘hood for 36 hours – need any dulse? hee hee.

phew! all that sewing was making me hanker for some wine myself! it’s lovely, sans button and in all its sewn up glory. (and yes, the new bionic woman is very sadly lacking. i’ve been trying and then averting my eyes until i’ve up and changed the channel. when are they gonna catch on to how tacky it is?)

imo, the only thing redeeming Bionic Woman is the incredible hotness and badassery of Katee Sackhoff (BSG COME BACK TO ME).
Sweater = gorgeous. And, randomly, your hair looks really good in those pictures. Clearly, this is a good sweater.

That’s seriously gorgous. And I love the dream – reminds me of that period of my life where my dream me was good friends with Russell Crowe. We hung out all the time. Nice guy, Russell is. According to my dreams, anyway.
About the Bionic Woman (the new one, never having seen the older version, due to not living in North America at the time). It was on my short list for new shows. I tried the bionic test (blogged about it, too). I wanted desperately to like it and… lasted 31 minutes of the first episode. Agonizing experience. Couldn’t even give it my 3-episode minimum that all new shows get, to give them time to gel. Dump it. You’ll be a happier woman.

The sweater looks fabulous! I think I have a cone of that same yarn from Webs in my stash that may just have to become a Sunrise Circle jacket as well. And I’d skip the buttons and stick with the pin — it looks lovely.

I wonder now if people will have dreams in which they are seaming up sweaters and encountering you in coffee shops with your sweater and/or Rick and/or Bionic people and/or red pickups. 😉
Hurray, great sweater!

I’m putting my $.02 in and agreeing with stick with the pin, forget the buttons. The buttons in the ones I’ve seen on the web, totally detract from the sweater and the beauty of the curve.
So would that be $.03 CA?
The sweater is the best I’ve seen, looks good on you.

Gorgeous sweater, gorgeous on you, very flattering, and it looks great with your hair! I love it with the pin – the sunray-effect buttons were a bit twee for my taste.
Now I’m debating whether to do my Manos sweater with seams or in the round …

I needed a glass of wine to get through that posting!!LOL Wow, no wonder it invaded your dream-but at least you weren’t naked and late for a class exam in a class you had never actually gone to-I still have that dream once in a while and I haven’t been in college for ,um, a while.
I was thinking about making the sweater-I’ve had the pattern since it came out-but all that seaming??? Not my favorite thing to do-I have been known to pull out the sewing machine and ,Yes,sew up those seams!!! Not kosher I know but I like to think of it as thinking outside the box not just wrong.

I’ll have to tell you sometime about a dream I had once about knitting sweaters to save a bunch of people from the onset of a zombie invasion! Ha ha! Did Rick at least hold the sock in the dream? If he doesn’t knit, he at least has to hold the sock!!!
The sweater looks absolutely stellar on you! Freakin’ fantastic knit skillz, as always. Hopefully all the pain was worth it for you, cause the sweater looks beautiful to me. 🙂

*Sigh* we may be in harmonic sock convergence, but it will be a long, long time, longer than I have, I fear, before I can do such lovely seams.
Were these just regular brownies or the interesting kind?

Gorgeous sweater – entirely worth every inch of sewing!
I’ve not yet had a stress-related knitting dream, but spinning seems to sneak in every once in a while – there’s usually high tension, snapping yarn and a cat involved.
Enjoy your new sweater!

The sweater is beautiful! The dream was hilarious; I am so very glad that I am not the only one who has dreams like this, with anxiety and celebrity buddies and surreal dream-realities! Hopefully, it’ll be sweet dreams of finished sweaters from here on for you.

WOW! That is one awesome sweater and it looks great on you! I thin I would die before sewing all those seams. My house is full of sweaters waiting to be seamed. Let’s not even discuss hems. Holy hems, batman! No Way!. I’m suprized it only took two glasses. Well, actually, wisdom on your part, I’m sure. Kudos to you on a sweater well done!

Cher has less seams than the sweater –FUNNY!!! It was all worth it as it looks stunning. One of the reasons I took to knitting is because I HATE with a passion any kind of sewing . Well bless my weird soul if I din’dt have to sew anyways when my sweater was done. STILL hated to sew. I’d lock you up in a room gladly to sew up any of my knitting, with or with out Rick Mercer. Preferably with as he is one funny funny man and good looking to boot. Would love to hear the two of you together and you trying to teach him how to knit hahahaha Imagine!!!

The Cher line cracked me up.
Screw the buttons, go with a pin. Way more cool.
I don’t mind weaving in a gazillion ends, but seaming scares the heck out of me. The sweater I am working on will have miles of seaming — it’s a kimono-style one from Vicki Square’s Kimono Knitting — so I know I will just have to suck it up and learn. Unless you want to volunteer? 😉

1. I live by your lesson of Drink early, drink often.
2. Even though I was not really a Bionic Woman (the original) fan, but more so than Bionic Man fan, I do so also believe that Lindsay Wagner is the ONLY Jaime Summers and has to sleep on a sleep number bed because of it.

Loved. The. Bionic. Woman. I pretended to be her all the time too! I didn’t know there was a new series. Course, they’ll butcher it. I had nightmares about Fembots. Now those were scary! Scarier than Rick Mercer by a long shot, except for maybe when he goes skinny-dipping with politicians…

So cute! I just realized today that I have potentially the perfect buttons for this top (I just need to double check how the buttons look on the original), so I have to move this project higher up the list.

I got a bit of a scare due to your dream. Just as I got to the end of the post, and the photo that showed the whole process was so worthwhile, my computer started talking to me in a broken, staticy reportorial tone. Turns out the Rick Mercer link opened in another tab had finally connected. Took me a few minutes to figure that out.
I’m so glad my sweater didn’t talk yours into swapping hem-sewing chores. I got almost all of my neckband hem done in an hour and a half car ride yesterday. Now I get to try on and finish knitting my sleeves down and hem them. All other hems are done. I can’t get myself to do all my seams at once. I admire your persitance, even if aided.
Very good save on your sleeves. I once cut off striped cuffs, lengthened the striped and stitch-paterned sleeves and reattached the cuffs. It still feels like magic that that stuff works.

You have sold me on this sweater. I’m now scouring North America for karabella soft tweed in the orange (in the original pattern). I think at this point I’m only one skein short – which maybe could be the hems?
It looks great on you! thanks for the inspiration (and the laughs). You never cease to entertain…how about a book on knitting dreams?

That’s pretty damn spiffy if you ask me (I also now see why the socks were so effective at keeping you from your 12 rows and seams. That does look like a big job!!!!)! Nice work. I haven’t seen the new bionic show but I’m totally with you on the slow is fast thing. When I was a kid, I used to watch “Zoom” and then I’d run around my house trying to see if I was going fast enough to make “speed streaks.” I didn’t get the whole f/x thing.

The new Bionic Woman IS a total let-down!! Kerwyn still watches it because he is a die-hard sci-fi kinda guy and will watch “B” movies that are barely “C” movies. I think that he is hoping that it will get better.

I love the sweater! In regards to the Bionic Woman, I haven’t watched it. I take issue with the new TV season and all the new stuff that is forced down my throat. I hear you on the re-working of the bionic stuff though, they had to change that stuff by contract. What they should have done was just leave well enough alone and never re-made it.

I think perhaps you should have just moved on to the hard stuff. Vodka perhaps. Ah, Jaegermeister, maybe.
Great sweater…and I am totally with you on the the bionic woman (and was totally cracking up reading this). I couldn’t even get past the first episode because I was having twitches for Jamie Summers. I thought I would like this so much because since the old version and the new version, I got myself a robotic leg…so I AM the bionic woman. Maybe I wanted to be Jamie a little too much, ya think?

OK! You’ve finally convinced me. I have had ZERO desire to knit that sweater. BUT any sweater that can make your boobs look bigger (while covering them up at the same time) and your waist look thinner AND look good while your generally annoyed is a seriously great sweater.
You rock!

Rick Mercer? Liberal Convention? As always, absolutely side-splitting, and appreciated.
I don’t really think that a pick up works for the One Ton Challenge though; I hope it was a hybrid…
Could you smell popcorn or peanuts?

Oh, and if for some reason you *do* ever get to meet Rick Mercer, p-l-e-a-s-e bring him home to dinner. And invite me. I won’t be able to speak and will just seem like a stunned idiot to him, but I’m not sure I care.

The sweater was worth the sewing though, right? As to the new Bionic Woman — I gave up halfway through the first episode. Just couldn’t get into it — and I wasn’t even that big a fan of the original series.
And no comments on the whole dream sequence thing — except to say that you might want to avoid the wine in the future before bedtime!

I did this one as a store sample so I know your pain. Those seams for the hems around the curve? Brutal.
That being said – I have seen this sweater with and without buttons, and I really prefer it without the buttons done up exactly how you have it. But that is just my two cents worth, do with it what you will (Lovely colour by the way)

I like the pin look as well. And the sewing thing, good to know. I might have to mark this off the queue…. I think that Katee Sackhoff as Sarah is much more interesting than anyone else on the show. Or just let Michelle Ryan act with her natural accent. She emotes much better that way. Sigh.

#3 things.
1. That color is totally perfect on you. It makes you look fantastic-er. ( er added so as not to insinuate that you don’t ALWAYS look fantastic)
2. That is the coolest piece of knitting origami I’ve seen since the EZ surprise jacket.
3. Right there with you on the “special effects” of Bionic Woman. I had hopes, I really did. Would have been cooler somehow if they had been able to get Lindsay Wagner to do a cameo or something.

“fashion emptiness” and the dream sequence ~ they will get me through this long weekend w/my ever-loving family. Just out of curiousity, will you tell us what size you made, and if you made any modifications (beside the sleeve lengths – so sorry to read that). The sweater fits you perfectly, and I love the color on you. Skal!

I haven’t seen the new Bionic Woman so can’t comment there – but I was so big a fan of the old BW, that I had a Bionic Woman doll…. the one and only Barbie type doll I ever owned, and one of only 3 dolls I remember having.
She had awesome bionic pieces in her arm and legs. WAY COOL. I loved her. I also pretened to be Jamie Sommers WAY too much. (but I make great Bionic noises…)
Oh, sweater – lovely also.

LOL! You don’t seem very pleased in the picture, but it looks lovely. And maybe you were really seaming *fast*, it’s just that your bionic powers [the 80’s version (*only one*,imo)] made it *seem* in slow-mo?? Hmmm…

Okay, the bionic man (Lee Majors) wasn’t so hot as a middle aged guy… but have you ever seen the young Lee Majors in “Big Valley”? “Heath” was my first crush — after “Kimba” and before “Starsky” …. well, “Sulu” might have been in there somewhere.

The sweater looks great!
I watched a few episodes of the new Bionic Woman and just had to stop. I don’t care about the characters–in part because I’m too aware they are all actors. The plots seem designed to show off the bionic-ness rather than problem driven. It’s ok to just say no and wait for the new episodes of BSG instead. 🙂

Beautiful! That sweater is just beautiful.
And, I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the new Bionic Woman, but agree with you–she will always be Linday Wagner, and I can’t count the number of times I ran around our backyard going “chuh-chuh-chuh” as I ran really, slowly. And yes, I had an action figure doll, too….

Wow – the sweater looks awesome! And I love Rick Mercer. We used to live in Michigan, and we got CBC on our cable system, and I became very fond of Rick Mercer and “This Hour has 22 Minutes” and Red Green (I can still watch the gang up at Possum Lodge on PBS, hallelujah). Oh, and the sweater looks awesome! 🙂

I am laughing myself so silly that the teenaged son had to come over here and look at what it was about…”oh, is that that sock lady again?” He has no idea how much “that sock lady” pays it forward by just daily blogging. Makes me smile through my hacking bronchitis, NOT TO GAUGE HAT I’m going to be frogging later and all the angel biscuits I must bake tomorrow for Thanksgiving.
I doff my crooked half knit chapeau, to you Harlotta. “The Blog” is never disappointed. 😉

Oh i hear you on BW2007 style. YUCK. I couldn’t even make it through one episode. The original Jamie Sommers was sooo cool! Beautiful, a teacher (IE a real person), a supercool bionic chick…she had it all. This version..ugh.
I had a friend in elementary school and we would play “Bionics”..he was Steve Austin and I’d be Jamie Sommers and we’d “doodoodoodoodoo”(bionic running noises)in slow motion through the woods battling bad guys.
sigh.
Good times….

See now you had me sold on this sweater until you told me about all the seaming. This may push this sweater farther down on my to do list.
Oh, well the sweater looks really great and better yet it even fits you well, congratulations on sticking with the seaming.
Dreams are so strange, I dreamed that my husband and I and his parents were going to some performance at a some theater and it was about to begin so we had to hurry. So my husband and I each got on a segway and his parents got on one together and we raced down a long hallway on the segways to get to our seats…weird.

Very nice! The pin looks good, but let’s see what buttons you have picked out!
If it’s any consolation, I do anything and everything to avoid seaming, only do sleeves by picking up the stitches around the armhole and knitting in the round toward the wrist because I figure there’s no chance in the Universe I’ll ever get the right length otherwise (I can try them on as I go)…and they still come out the wrong length. How?! Is it a curse?
Is it just me, or was the Six Million Dollar Man kind of…ugly?
Dreams are weird. I hardly ever remember mine, but when I do, yeah, they’re whacked.
I don’t think the hair or the sweaters were so bad in the 80’s (well, some of it). What I hated was those big bows they were trying to put on everything. Why were grown women wearing big bows in their hair like they were 6? Gag!

Of course, you would call Rick Mercer and he would definitely tell you how stunned you were for getting stuck seaming someone else’s sweater. He might also crack off about you getting paid in coffee.
Having knit bloggers in your dreams wouldn’t in any way be odd. Not at all.

What?! Fashion emptiness? How else could I have learned such colorwork to rival wallpaper? You needed shoulderpads of iron to stretch out the design. And they had to be oversized to show off that design. When you ran out of stirrup pants, the botchy Hammer pants were just great. Combined with ankle boots, of course.
Mullet, anyone?

The sweater is absolutly BEAUTIFUL!
As to the New Bionic Woman, I knew I wouldn’t be watching it after seeing the first episode and uttering those immortal words “hey thats not how it happened in the original!”

There was a design teacher in school who was known to say, “one beer good, two beers bad” with regards to drinking while building set models. The technical production sorts expanded this to “Anne says ‘one beer good, two beers bad,’ so I always drink in odd numbers.”

Very nice! Even though I have 3 sweaters awaiting sewing (I obviouly hate that part), I’m tempted to give this one a go. Wonder if it will still be in style when I get around to the sewing up? Kudos to you!

Oh that’s nice. Very nice.
I understand how you feel about the Boinic Woman. Every time I turn it on there is this other young chick who anwers to Jamie and its just wrong. Its so wrong, I have to turn away. But in other better news, try Ugly Betty. Its a great show to knit to.

Damn, it sure does take you a long time to finish off a glass of wine 😉
Gorgeous sweater! I’m so jealous of all you who have beautiful things to knit. All my yarn is still in a moving truck somewhere between Seattle and Virginia. I’m stuck with a crazy eyelash scarf that my mother has begged me for. Talk about freakishly long knitting tasks…eyelash scarves never EVER end.

Oh my God! The Bionic Woman! That was my favorite show growing up. Whenever anyone suggested playing house, I said, “No, let’s play the Bionic Woman. I’ll be Jaime.”
When I saw Lindsay Wagner hawking Sleep Number beds, I went into mourning. How could Jaime Sommers stoop to that level?
Seams? Bleh. I do top-down raglans. One day, I’ll dare to knit a sweater in pieces.

Re: seaming: Have you ever made socks with “The Aladdin Heel”? It’s a method of making a heel that I think Paton’s patented back in the 50s or so. I knit a pair of these as my Olympic socks, and boy do I deserve a medal. Yes, you wind up knitting the heel totally separately so you can take it out at will and put in another one BUT – if I recall correctly there were at least 4 seams in each sock. The gussets are seamed in several places, there’s a seam up the back, the toe is seamed … it goes on and on. I ran out of places to weave in ends.
Re: Bionic Woman – Is it my imagination or are TV shows way too dark these days? Both emotionally dark and literally dark, since they seem to film them all at night. I, too, have fond memories of the original, so I tried to watch the new one, but gave up.

See – the sewing up part is fine. The knitting? Wonderful to watch somebody that’s good at it 😉
I’ve discovered today that knitting is, indeed like riding a bicycle — and that I still have something absolutely strange in the middle of my knitting technique, that involves dropping one needle while I whap the yarn about for the next stitch. I think it’s the bicycling equivalent of sticking a leg out every-other-push, or thereabouts.

More seams than Cher, snort, those seams were sewn by Mackie & only he could do so much with such small scraps of fabric.
Rick in a red pickup? not to sure about that one, seems unlikely although he rode a red scooter on the show once, glad he saved you!

The sweater looks great and I love the pin. As for the sleeves: nearly every photo I saw on the net has the sleeves rolled up one hem length – I guess about 2″ so it may have been a pattern problem. Thanks for the warning- I am knitting the same jacket and I will have my wine ready for the seaming portion. From one short armed knitter to another!

The Sunrise jacket looks fantastic. Don’t worry about having to adjust the length of your arms. I had to do exactly the same trick to my Sunrise Circle Jacket arms. Knit as written (to gauge, I promise!), the cuffs hung down about 5″ past my fingertips. Perhaps Kate Gilbert is a person of long-armed-ness?

We’re the same age – I have the same Bionic woman issues.
Gets better, though – and they improve the hampster thing. Stories and plot improves dramatically once you get up to date.
Sweater looks fabulous, love the pin.

Honestly, when I saw the first pic I really thought you had your youngest daughter try it on for the photo. ( althought, now that I think about it, they are getting bigger and taller than their Mum )You look so trim. The sweater kills! Suits you perfectly, no need for buttons. Any time a show is re-made, it is done from the perspective of the younger generation, whose point of view is, naturally, different from the original makers. This “Jamie” looks about 12 to me, it’s hard to make the switch, although it is sometimes worthwhile to check the series later to see if it has changed.

Love the sweater! Looks great on you.
Once upon a time, I disciplined myself to not start new knitting until I’d sewn up the previous project. Alas, that discipline is long gone. All my UFOs are really “un-sewn-up-yet” objects!!!
– Pam (two sweaters in the “need to sew them up” basket)

Great sweater! I have to tell you though,I hate seams!!!! HATE them! With a passion. The dream you had would have been one of my worse nightmares! I’m notorious for knitting something and then putting it off forever so I can avoid the seams. Congratulations on a great sweater! You’re a better woman than I am LOL!

It turned out even cuter than the ad picture! If I could afford to have someone sew up my sweaters, I’d do it. I always have to watch out for escaping drool when I hear that somebody will seam ’em up for cold cash. More power to you!
By the way, Suzanne Pedersen took pity on me and got me a couple of classes at Madrona after all–Pat Brunner’s all-day on fitting, and your Saturday morning gig–yippee! See you in Tacoma!
Kathy

I haven’t seen the new ‘Bionic Woman’, I had a bad feeling just from the commercials. But, the original Jaime Sommers was SO cool. And like someone else mentioned, I had the Bionic Woman Barbie too – I wish I still had her. My mom seemed to be really into the idea of naming me after different characters/actresses of the time, so I think I was lucky with Jaime. (I could have been a Lindsay or Farrah!).
Your Sunrise Circle Jacket is beautiful, I love the earthy color you chose! I really like the shawl pin, too.

Great story, even better sweater! The whole bionic thing – yeah, I agree. But I’m still watching the show, because somehow the show well, it;s still “The Bionic Woman.” And I think I’m waiting in my little head (I wait there a lot) for an episode where Lindsay may appear as a guest star….and show off her fabulous bionic skills.

Fiberguy applauds your use of swill, er, real wine to help solve the problem. Denny would be pleased with his knitting too. However, since he learned with a glass in his hand, does that mean that he can only knit well while drinking? Seems I might have used that logic in college while studying…

If you decide to add buttons, please blog it. I couldn’t get my buttons/loops to work as well as a pin. I would like to see you take a turn. Also, Harlot readers, if you like the sweater, don’t be discouraged by the sewing. Despite being a 7 (!) page pattern, it’s actually really easy to knit. If you could figure out how to knit up the hems, it would be a snap. Or, if you’re not bionic, you could seam it in more than one sitting (=more than one glass of wine).

Hey! Wait a sec. When we had dinner at the CIA, I said that people were complaining about the sewing and that it’s actually possible to sew that hem quickly and you said something to the effect that people are wimps and whine too much about sewing!

Where did you get that shawl pin? I need need need one like, right now. It’s exactly what I had in mind.
I luuuuurve the jacket, the yarn is positively edible and I like the way it fits, I wasn’t too sure at first because of the way it’s shaped but it looks fab. I’d have a go at one myself but as I haven’t even knitted a sweater yet I’ll put it on the back burner…

Love the sweater and I agree that it doesn’t really need the buttons when you have such a great pin.
LOVED LOVED LOVED the old Lindsay Wagner “Bionic Woman”–nobody but her–school teacher, tennis player, great above the garage apartment, bionic dog Max. Remember how she could stop her car with one foot?!? Too bad she never took up knitting, imagine how easy her Christmas knitting pile could’ve been?
Allison

I’ve got to protest the lack of love for Lee Majors. There’s some serious cuteness there. As someone else said, he was ‘all that’ in The Big Valley.
As for the new Bionic Woman, Katee Sackhoff is the only reason to tune in.

Oh, beautiful!
I feel your pain re: the too long sleeves though. And the seaming.
I’m putting off redoing the armhole edgeing on Isabella for the right armhole (I didn’t pick up enough stitches and it looks all puckery while the left one lays flat perfectly).
I agree with your assessment of the new Bionic Woman. She’s not Jamie Sommers and the whole premise feels too militaristic for my taste.

I hate to publicly admit that I probably would have just pushed up the sleeves. Forever after. I am also not admitting to several UFO’s that only need seaming. I need to find someone that would rather seam than knit and we could work together.

Since no one else has said it, the seam is gorgeous all by itself. You are a master seamer to make it look so good. And the sweater is a knock-out, too. May you next wear it with a smile, because all the hard work is behind you. For this sweater, anyway.
Barb in Lansing NY

Beautiful sweater and great writing — congratulations! (I would send aspirin but you know how they are at the border.)
You have utterly talked me out of ever wanting to knit this sweater, though, I must say.

BEAUTIFUL Sunrise, I’d say. It’s a great thing that it didn’t look like ass after all that knitting and sewing. :o) Your sewing up story and dream really had me laughing. I’ll have to share it with my Mom who finishes sweaters for our LYSs.

Next time, PIN the sweater together along all seamlines (use safety pins, not sewing pins) so you can try it on for fit before you seam it. Put the pins on the garment RS parallel to the seam edge so you can see them easily while taking up about as much room as the seams will actually take. Seriously, I do this before I even start knitting the second sleeve, to be sure the length I planned is correct. Also lets you know whether you can get your head through the neckhole before you’ve sewn in all the seams.
I don’t mind seaming knitted objects because I do them all Kitchener or mattress stitching– very rhythmic and the seams disappear into the knitting– plus they’re all worked from the RS! But I hate and despise weaving in ends– often I only do the ones that would dangle visibly from the cuffs and hems. Lots of mess in the armholes, but tough.

All right, what strange powers do you have over me and my dream world? I read your blog entry yesterday, went about my day as usual, spent the evening knitting. Then, last night, I had a dream. I swear this is all true. I dreamt that I asked you to make a hat and mitten set that was beyond my skill level. You agreed, but insisted that I had to rip out a shawl I made because it was ugly, then you had the nerve to pluck a stray piece of yarn from the sweater I was wearing and started to unravel that too – straight from my body – saying it had to go too. Then, Dustin Hoffman appeared out of nowhere (I love how there is no reasoning in dreams)and took me out to lunch. I was happy because he was looking very dumpy in a gray sweat suit. I find this dream so darn funny because of several things: I never dream about knitting, I never have celebrities in my dreams, and the strange similarities to your dream.
Get out of my dreams!

After reading all these comments, I’ll never again worry about a retirement income. I’ll just offer to seam up sweaters.
Really, after 100 hours or more of knitting, is a couple of hours of seaming and weaving in ends such a big deal?

I so know what you mean about the Bionic Woman. I had the doll. With all those little tabs you could pop up and see all her bionics. And when you turned her head it clicked for her hearing, you know all the cool stuff she did. Oh yeah and the track suit and nifty tennis shoes. I loved that doll.
And since you mentioned Cher, I had hers too. With her hair all the way down her back and that green, one piece, pant suit”?”, with the scarf. Though I didn’t play with her that much. They made her nails REALLY long. And being a plastic doll, there was just a lot of extra plastic sticking out at the ends of her fingers. It wasn’t pretty. She spent most of her life in the closet. Way in the back, in the corner. Which wasn’t such a good idea. Cause when I’d have to fish in there to get something, I’d hit her nails. Goosebumps just thinking about it.
But anyway, lovely jacket.
🙂

The sweater looks great, despite the haunted post-traumatic seam disorder look on your face.
Ken’s comment is making me think I should knit this sweater. I tried on the original, actually, and even though it was a size too big, it still totally rocked the curves. I’ll have to sign a no-whining waiver, though, because Kate’s just down the street from me and she knows where I live…

That sweater is sitting in pieces, waiting to be sewn up since August. But it was hot then, so why rush? Then it was September and still hot. And then October and getting cool, but by then the intended recipient was way pregnant and it wouldn’t fit anyway. So she had her baby last week and it’s cold now. I’m out of excuses. And you’ve completed one in the time I’ve spent avoiding seams. I’m a slacker.
You, on the other hand, look really good. Kudos to you.

The Karabella soft tweed is available at http://www.discountyarnsale.com for about $72 for 10 skeins.
I’ve wanted to do this sweater for a while. 🙂 You’ve made me go and dig out the pattern and put it on my list of things I want to do SOON. 🙂

The finished Sunrise Circle Jacket is so pretty. Why can’t it be started and finished in a week, like in my imagination? Are you sure it can’t be done that way? 🙂
The Bionic Woman. Seriously? Couldn’t even bring myself to put on the channel. There will never be another – and how OLD do I sound?

I think it looks fabulous, and well worth all the effort. I say forget the buttons, the pin works great, plus it’s cooler to show off different pins now and then. Now that I’ve seen it, I’m putting it on my ‘must do’ list. I actually don’t mind seaming and hemming – a glass of wine, I-Tunes on ‘shuffle’ and a few hours out of my life, especially for such a lovely reward. I was planning to do Norah Gaughan’s Russian-style coat in the holiday issue of VK, but I think I’ll do the Sunrise first. Is anyone doing a KAL?
P.S. The new BW is not yet screened here, but the actress is well known to Britain’s ‘Eastenders’ fans as Zoe Slater. Hope the show gets better.

Sweater looks stunning. Totally worth it.
On to more importants things – the new Bionic Woman just sucks! It desecrates the beatuty that was the Bionic Woman in slo-mo. I am forced to watch other crap instead (like Private Practice!)because I can’t take it.
So basically, you are right on all counts and the universe is wrong!

SERIOUSLY! the new Bionic Woman–The whole slowing down thing is what is missing, you are dead-on!!! THAT is the missing link. I think if they did the slow-motion thingy, then i’d definitely watch it. but in general, Lindsay Wagner is the one and only True Bionic Woman.
and i feel like a traitor watching this pathetic excuse for a remake of a show. but at the same time? i’m drawn to it. like knowing a terrible accident is about to happen and you are slowing down to get a good look at it all as it’s happening…in SLOW MOTION!!! :o)haha!
jackets looks FAB!!! happy tday!
(obviously from a yank), :o)ek.

Wow!!! The sweater is gorgeous…and fits so perfectly!!! Wow!!! And, you finished it in (what for me would be) record time! You are and will continue to be MY IDOL! Love the way you start & finish things. This from a person with a closet filled with 1/2 sweaters…Back to my socks (these I actually do finish!), Ruth

I’m tagging you because you’re my favorite blog, and because this comment is so far down I’m hoping you’ll NEVER see it! 😉 Also because you have such a huge blogroll to send it on to, if you choose to be bothered. I was just going to delete my tag, but nobody reads my blog anyway and I needed a post subject.
I’m going to wish you a “Happy Thanksgiving!” even though I know you already had yours… 😀http://roughroadstudio.blogspot.com/2007/11/tagged-this-is-gonna-snowball.html

It’s funny how everyone’s sleeves seemed 2″ too long…I must have ‘monkey arms’…mine ended 1″ past the wrist which is how i like my sweaters.
The fit is amazing on you and your choice of yarn is perfect! I too, bought some english tweed…after my SCJ! Btw, do you think you’ll put buttons or wear it like that? I just use the shawl pin.

I love it!
I was so excited to see how it came out that when I accidentally scrolled down half the page, I had to close my eyes and scrollbackupreallyfast because I didn’t want to see it until I read the whole thing.
🙂
Can’t wait to knit one.
(By the way, Hi, I love your books and I stalk your blog constantly.)

I am *so* there with you about the original Bionic Woman. It’s really helped me, actually, going through the eye cancer saga. I try to channel my inner Lindsey Wagner, you know?
Btw, I knit my sleeves consistently too short and have to add 2″. Thus, the universe imposes balance…

The sweater looks terrific. I’m guessing though that it would not be flattering for someone who is large busted.
Note: I almost made a sleeve length mistake on my sweater recently…almost. I caught myself measuring right up into my armpit because,well that’s where my arm starts. Then I realised that my sweater sleeves never come right up deep into my armpits. Could this be why your sleeves are too long?
D.

Great cardi. Hilarious post.
I really wanted to like the new Bionic Woman show, but I just can’t quite manage it. The slo-mo and cool noise when she jumps would totally help. If it gets better I might give it another chance.

I pick the wrong days to spend driving to New York, incommunocado. Good thing, though — if I were anywhere near my stash, I’d be suicidally casting on. (And they have no yarn stores in New York.) As it is I’ll have to stick to my travel socks (somehow there are three in my shoulder bag) and, for the drive, the cover (Barbara Walker, “Peerie’s Parasol”) for my lace book. I figured you’d want to know.

Ooooh that’s pretty! Fabulous work! I give you props for staying up so late to finish it. I’da given up about 10:30 and headed to bed. =P It looks great!
I used to have a Bionic Woman Barbie Doll. It was so cool. Had the little arm plates you could flip open and see her “circuitry” (i.e. sticker) I find it odd that they’re resurrecting that show. Have we not remade enough of television/movie history? How about some new stuff?

How I enjoy your site! And I have learned a great deal. I have been knitting – off and on – for over 50 years and use it as a stress release from my job as a child protective worker [26 years]. I think the actual rythmn of the knitting puts the head back together.
I would like to “blog” to you my finest day in months! My 16 y/o 5′ 11″ grand-daughter competed in the Missouri State Cross Country Meet in Jefferson City, MO. Temp. 60’s F. Sunny. The trees…colourful. 3 of my four daughters were there and my second grandchild [almost 2]who was racing herself on the sidelines. I found the highest hill on the course [very hilly topography] and plopped myself down with my knitting [balaclava for a soldier] and watched the other watchers and the 160 runners when I could see them.
Wonderful day AND my grand-daughter did a very credible job running her 2+ miles as a sophomore!
On this, our day of Thanksgiving, I am reliving that day…
HAPPY THANKSGIVING and thank you for giving me a chuckle when I get home from a difficult day!

Sneaky Harlot- the pre-buy is up on Amazon…
You didn’t ask me- but the things I learned from knitting? Have nothing to do with knitting;)
Great title- looking forward to another great book. Congrats;) ts
Oh- and I know you’ve already celebrated-(which is why My hubbys work cell phone is turned off today- he works for a Canadian Company) but Happy Thanksgiving- again;)

It goes(the sweater that is ) so nice with that skirt I was wearing last night on our date, you know my brown hairy skirt? But alas I could not wear it with case I would be “the weird old lady with to many knit things on” chow dear. love Dennyoxoxo

Ok I’ve been a lurker for a long time but I just had to comment on your Bionic Woman post. I TOTALLY AGREE!!! Lindsay Wagner will FOREVER be the Bionic Woman. I hate the fact that the new one isn’t named differently. I wish they would have kept Lindsay as the original and this new one could be an updated in bionics. For me, the show failed from the start. And I was a big fan as well. I had her trading cards, I cut out all her pictures from the TV Guide (along with Charlie’s Angels) for a scrap book, and my friend and me would pretend we were her friends and helped her out in the show. LOVED that show!

I love the sweater. I have the pattern on my computer to print out so I can knit it but if you say there is alot of sewing then I am not into that. I could knit my heart out but sewing is really not my thing. Just like dusting and house work. I confess. Also, I cannot get into the new Bionic Woman. I love the old ones. Hard to see someone other than Lindsey Wagner playing the part.
Sweater is just awesome. Beautiful job. Oh, and how do you sew your seams? They look great too.

Over the last week, I’ve also been seaming up a long cardigan and kntting a front border. I’m glad to see that someone else is marveling at how long it takes. To treat myself during this process, I started a new sweater. They’re both gorgeous, if I may say so myself. I’m going back to my tendency to knit sweaters in one piece up to the armholes. Or go top down.
Melissa in Atlanta

I couldn’t agree with you more about the new Bionic Woman, I actually had to turn it off (and have not gone back since) because it is SO BAD. It’s a shame really, it had to such potential.
The sweater, however, is lovely! Even my husband thinks so (he was looking over my shoulder as I read), and that’s quite a compliment, as he’s usually rather “eh” about knitting in general. Just used to it, I guess. Takes a good deal to impress him.

I THOUGHT I was immune to the Sunrise Circle. I started to waver a bit when Jenny and Nicole on Stash and Burn talked about it recently. But the photos tipped me over the edge and now I HAVE to make one. That is lovely. (And BTW, I didn’t knit garments in the 80’s and I hate sewing up. But this is totally worth it.)

You think and talk exactly as I do! You are hilarious and being a big beer drinker myself, I know we’d get along just fine! This is my 1st time to take the time to read your stories and I about to bust my butt falling off my chair laughing! But I know how it is. Have an unfinished sweater for my son (it was done just fine til he decided his collar wasn’t tight enuf–maybe I ought to get him to try it on again, {a year later} as he’s gained enuf weight for a tighter fit!) HA! Good thinking, huh?

Steph.. the weirdest part is that after swinging over to the bionic woamn show a couple of times.. i keep thinking i know that girl.. where is she from.. it took me about 4-5 weeks to realize it.. I have been a HUGE EastEnders fan since the 80’s and was blown away when all of a sudden irealized that she is from the show and was Kat’s daughter.. eek but now i can’t remember what her name was.. too funny.. hugs karola